Acrylic on canvas, stretched and ready to hang.
Signed on the front.
Gagagil or the wattle tree is one of many species of trees that has been important to Indigenous people. This painting is about Gagagil. Boomerangs were cut from the trunks. The bark and sap were used to tan possum skins used to make cloaks. In the Bora Ceremony, the tree was used as a platform. The tree was cut off at a certain height, turned upside down, the roots trimmed and then covered with branches. The branches were then covered with the possum skins so that the 'Kippers' (young boys) could be initiated on them. This was a very significant ceremony in the lives of young boys, transitioning into manhood. Some wattle trees seeds can be used as soap, other wattle seeds are edible. As a child I was shown how to roll the bark into string, knowing that the tannin in the bark would stop it from perishing as quickly as other barks would.